July 16, 2013

The Border Network for Human Rights, Presente.org, Detention Watch Network, the Southern Borders Communities Coalition, and border residents and communities across the country are participating in a National Day of Action Against Border Militarization on Wednesday, July 17. Residents and community organizations in 10 cities will protest the “border surge” component proposed in the bi-partisan Senate's Corker-Hoeven amendment and other legislation being proposed in the House of Representatives.

The Senate’s immigration reform package was passed with the last-minute addition of a “border surge” that's guaranteed to increase racial profiling, abuse, death and other destruction in border communities. The bi-partisan Corker-Hoeven amendment in the Senate proposes increasing the number of border patrol agents by 20,000 while adding 700 miles of additional border wall. Increased spending of billions of tax dollars on unnecessary surveillance and other wasteful technology at a border that has been certified as safe by the FBI and other sources is also included.

Over the next 10 years, the bi-partisan “border surge” in S.744 would further militarize border zones in the southern United States, transforming peaceful communities into some of the most militarized regions in the world. Already, more than 7 million U.S. Citizens, residents and families that live in border communities are subjected to the “100-mile rule," which the ACLU and other groups denounce as a “Constitution Free Zone” stretching from San Diego, California to Brownsville, Texas.

Tucson, AZWhere: Meet at the Federal Building on Congress and Granada to march to Sen. John McCain’s office for a Muerte-In (“Die-In”)When: 3:30 p.m., Wednesday July 17Contact:Coalicion de Derechos Humanos AZ